Small barracks merge into one new defense complex in the Central Netherlands | Inland

State Secretary Christophe van der Maat (Defence) announced this on Friday. “We now have a lot of small barracks for the support units,” he says. “We are going to see how we can bring them together. As a result, our people do not have to move as often.”

Van der Maat reports that he still plans to close the Johan Willem Friso barracks in Assen. He wants to move the more than a thousand soldiers who work there to Havelte.

They would be housed there in a complex shared with the 43 Mechanized Brigade. Recently, there has been a lot of commotion about the intention to close Assen: the region fears that it will lose a lot of employment.

shooting range

The move from Assen to Havelte will probably take five to ten years. “We have not yet taken a final decision,” emphasizes the state secretary. “We have expressed the administrative intention to merge the locations in Havelte and Assen: We think Havelte is a good place for this.”

Van der Maat is still in talks with regional administrators about the closure.

Furthermore, the plan is to house the 11 Air Mobile Brigade completely in Schaarsbergen and to build a new barracks for the Commando Corps in the Roosendaal and Rucphen regions. Defense is also looking at the new shooting range to be built in Ossendrecht. This principle puts an end to the possibility of bringing the elite unit under one roof with the marines, for which a new barracks is now being built in Nieuw Milligen.

Van der Maat will present his real estate plan around the summer. It will then become more clear how things will continue with the other locations of the armed forces.

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